Before you assign me to an HR generalist position in Siberia, let me explain.

Your careers site is pretty mundane as a general rule. You’ve got job listings, some marketing collateral that’s not really interactive (PDFs or PDFs turned into basic web pages) and if you’re really on fire, some videos that probably aren’t that compelling.

Translation – your careers site isn’t something that people rely on for anything. It’s a one-time destination based on a candidate finding your job on an aggregator, clicking through and applying. Do you even ask them to subscribe to your email list so you can keep them primed with other openings that might come up?  No?  Then why would I ever come back?  Do you expect me to bookmark you? That’s so 90′s…

What if you told me you were going to keep your eye open for other positions I might be interested in – not only in your company, but others as well?

I’m in the recruiting business. The most interesting company I’ve found uses a service that does what I describe above. They send me their open jobs a couple of times a week. When they don’t have new open jobs, they still email me a listing of openings at other companies I might be interested in. The two different types of emails have slight differences in how they are titled, to the point where I know by reading the title which email I’m getting – jobs at the company or when they don’ t have new jobs, openings at other companies I might be interested in.

A funny thing happens to candidates when you become that transparent and helpful. When I note that company is sending me an opening at their firm, I’m actually more interested than I would otherwise be – because they’ve offered up something of value at other times (jobs at other companies). The 1 out of 3 emails showing me an opening at their company actually becomes more important for me to open.

Because they give gifts when they’re not marketing their own firm.

Trust.

+1.

It takes work to do it right and not get assassinated by managers at your own company. But if you do it right, you’ll be like no one else.

Which is what everyone wants for their employment brand.